Hello, my name is Jim. My wife and I purchased a 20 acre mini farm that has a waterfall that feeds 6 ponds that were built about 30 years ago. We also have another pond at the front of the property that is fed from a drainage tile under the main road. From what I am told, the 6 ponds were built for fish, but at some point someone used these for raising fresh water shrimp. The waterfall flows year round and flows at least 30 gallons per minute (I checked flow using 5 gallon bucket, filled in less that 10 sec). The falls feed a stream that flows into the first pond, which has an overflow pipe going to #2 pond, and the stream continues into #3 pond. The #4 pond is fed from the stream (it is actually just a really wide stop in the stream) and has overflow pipes to feed #5 and #6 ponds. After the stream passes #4 it continues and flows over another falls and along the back of our property. The ponds are all in need of a LOT of maintenance. There are a lot of trees around all of them, the #1 pond dam has washed out next to the overflow so #1 is mostly a mud puddle with a stream running thru it. The rest of the ponds have a lot of muck, algea and weeds growing in them. I estimate that we have more than 3 acres of surface area. The depths are mostly 3-4 ft, but the #2 and #6 are maybe 6-8 ft at the deepest. The pond at the main road is about 1/2 acre and about 6 feet deep, but is also filled with muck, algea, weeds and was covered with duckweed last summer. Along with the pond maintenance, I am also building hiking trails thru our woods with a bridge over the base of the falls.
I am not usually very active in forums, but I hope I can learn how to manage these ponds the right way. Thanks in advance for all your help!

Welcome, Jim. There are some real experts here who will come along with good advice, but I'm just a fairly new pondmeister myself.

I do know that moving dirt is expensive, but moving wet dirt is much more expensive. Often, it makes more sense to build or rebuild a dam to raise the water level rather than dig out the old much.

PS South central Kentucky is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

Sounds like a neat place. My thoughts:

Lots of work and expense. If it were me, and it’s not, I would start by clearing the banks of trees, etc. Next, buy a backhoe. Start with pond 1 and work your way to number 6. I said buy because you will need it for a long time. Somehow figure out what to do with the stuff that you dig out.

An alternative would be to concentrate on the largest pond and consider the others as part of a creek.

I will more than likely be zero help to ya. Now getting that part outta the way we need some pictures of this place. Got wrap my head around what you got going on. What is your plans for all the ponds? Do you want to keep different varieties?

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I have a bunch of pictures on my phone, but they are all high def and are several MB in size. We have a facebook page for the farm. I believe it is a public page so you should be able to see the pictures and videos. I have a lot more pictures of each pond but will have to upload them a few at a time.

https://www.facebook.com/Hidden-Falls-Farm-103301141234464/

Dave, that is good advice about buying the backhoe. I have been keeping my eyes open for a backhoe or mini excavator within my price range, which isn't very big at this time. The good news is that I am in no big hurry to do anything. We are just getting settled in and getting the farm part running. I do have a Massey Ferguson 135 tractor so I will be able to keep everything cleaned up around the ponds for now.

Jim

added pics see ewest below

RStringer,

I don't have any specific plans for the ponds yet, other than to clean them out and make them look better. There are small bluegill, minnows, and VERY LARGE snapping turtles in all of them. We have had a couple of Canadian geese hanging out this spring trying to hatch some eggs, but something keeps getting the eggs and now the geese are hiding in a spot I can't find. We hear coyotes all the time and I caught a racoon on my trail cam and spotted a mother possum carrying 9 babies this past Sunday (Mother's Day).

My first project will be to fix the washed out dam for #1 pond. Someone put a 24" culvert into where the dam washed out next to the spillway which guaranteed that the pond would never fill up again. The original spillway is a steel box set on what looks like bags of cement stacked like bricks. I assume they placed the quickcrete like sandbags trying to stop the erosion of the dam, but it didn't work. There is actually a stream of water running underground next to the culvert.

Jim

Welcome to PB, Jim.

That place is absolutely gorgeous. With a little elbow grease and the right machines you'll have it looking like a picture postcard in no time.

Im with Augie with lot of elbow grease it will look amazing.

Welcome to Pond Boss posting Jim !!

Lots of very good pond people on here with great ideas. There is also a wealth of info on projects like yours in past threads.

Best advice from me at this point is learn as much as you can and start formulating ideas on what your goals are based on that info. I would start with one pond that is doable so it can be there for enjoyment while you work on the others. Pics ( pond # + a pic so we can id) and a list of what you think you would like will help move the discussion forward.

Here are a couple from your site.

It will take awhile in DIY mode for sure. I'd start at the top and work my way downstream.

That will prevent a lot of silt and muck from running into a pool that has already been fixed.

A solid idea/plan for the desired end result should be developed before starting in earnest.

Thank you very much for uploading the pictures. I think I have attached pictures of the first project. This is the dam and spillway for pond #1. The picture of the pond is taken from standing on the bridge over the spillway.

You may have to get a little creative in the remodeling of the ponds, one of your biggest obstacle I see is the constant water flow.
Is there any way to get the water to bypass one pond at a time, even if you had to reroute it with a backhoe till you get one structure done then restore the water flow to it and route it around the next one? that would make your project much much easier, I have worked on enough broken water lines to know that trying to work in a flowing stream of water is extremely difficult if not downright near impossible.
Beautiful place btw, tons of potential!!! I see a fellow being able to make a park scene out of that place, a shame that some one let it rundown to the stage its in. but what goes up must come down, with a little elbow grease and time and creativity it can be breathtaking again in no time!

Gehajake,

I have been researching something regarding our waterfall. I believe there is enough flow and drop to install a small hydroelectric generator. This would require me to build a penstock at the source up the hill. With that I could divert most or even all of the water thru pipes to wherever I need to.
I haven't figured it all out but it's an idea I have.

This sounds like a really cool project. Will you take lots of photos of all your progress. I didnt take as meaning as I wish I would have. It's nice to be able to go back and look back at what you have done (or hired).

Hidden Falls Farm,
That would be a huge game changer to be able to build a structure to channel the water thru some piping to temporarily bypass some of the ponds while you redo them.
I have looked into the hydro electric generator and have not been impressed with the cost of the units as compared to the output capacity of them. it would take a long time to recoup the cost of them, of course that would change a lot if it were in some remote place where regular power is not an option, also the cool, neat factor of it would be a consideration.
You do appear to have an extremely neat property there with tons of potential,, Good Luck, and keep us posted!